SCOTLAND recorded the lowest rate of vacant shop space in the UK for 2010 a new report has found.

However, empty retail stock figures remained high at 12.6 per cent, a slight rise on the 12 per cent UK average recorded in 2009.

The latest Shop Vacancy report from the Local Data Company found town centre vacancy rates in across the UK rose to an all time high of 14.5 per cent last year.

In Scotland, Paisley has the highest vacancy rate among large and mid-sized shopping centres at 24.1 percent compared to 17.5 per cent for Glasgow and 11.5 per cent in Edinburgh.

Dundee recorded the lowest town centre vacancy rate at eight per cent and vacancy rates in Aberdeen rose more than two per cent to 8.4 per cent overall.

Sara Miller, retail specialist at PwCin Scotland said: "There is no doubt that people are changingthe way they shop the range and frequency of shopping as well ashow they browse, transact and collect their goods."

She added: "Ultimately, there appears to be only one direction of travel - a reduction in the number of stores with the average store size probably increasing. We expect to see a continuation or even acceleration of these trends by this time next year."

In England, the north/south divide widened, with Yorkshire and Humber regions posted the highest UK vacancy rates at around 21 per cent.

London, the South East, the East and the South West all clustered around 14 per cent while the North East and North West and East and West Midlands regions averaged around 19 per cent.

In total, 90 per cent of the top 25 highest vacancy large towns are in the Midlands or the North,reducing to 68 per cent for medium sized towns and 44 per cent for the small sized towns.

Matthew Hopkinson, director at the Local Data Company, said: "The sad reality is that the number of vacant shops is increasing with certain areas of the country severely impacted and unlikely to recover.

"These high streets will never revert back to what they once were and so the composition of our town centres needs to change to reflect modern shopping needs.

"Vacancy is just one side of the coin. Occupancy is also dramatically changing with a greater number of leisure uses taking over the high street along with Pound shops,pawnbrokers, bookmakers, charity shops and hairdressers.

"Mixed use offer tied in with community is the future of our town centres and as such all involved need to react accordingly for them to have any future at all.

Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, added: "Many high streets will never return to their pre-recession days, and given the structural nature of these changes, the challenge for local authorities is to work with businesses - including retailers and landlords - to sensibly manage this transition and to be creative in looking for new roles and uses for empty shops."